Brian Setzer Orchestra Announces 14th Annual “Christmas Rocks Tour”

Though we may be in the heat of the summer, the touring announcements never really stop and this next one will take us from the Fall into the Winter and help celebrate the 25th Anniversary of The Brian Setzer Orchestra. Read down on the full press release below and mark off the dates happening near you. I’ll close out with additional thoughts once that’s all done. Let’s go.

The Press Release:
Iconic guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and three-time Grammy-Award winner BRIAN SETZER and his 19-piece THE BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA have announced their 14th annual “Christmas Rocks! Tour,” presented for the second consecutive year by SiriusXM. Hitting 30 cities, the holiday extravaganza will launch November 10 at the State Theatre in SETZER‘s adopted hometown of Minneapolis and wrap up December 28 (full itinerary below). The public on sale is Friday, July 21 at 10am local time, with the following presales:

o Fan Club Presale: Tuesday, July 18th at 10am local time through Thursday, July 20th at 10pm local time; Password: XMASROCKS
o SiriusXM Presale: Tuesday, July 18th at 10am local time through Thursday, July 20th at 10pm local time; Password: siriussetzer2017
o Local Presale: Wednesday, July 19th at 10am local time through Thursday, July 20th at 10pm local time.

The group’s set list will feature music off their latest Christmas album ROCKIN’ RUDOLPH (available now as a limited-edition box set, CD, vinyl or download) plus music off their three previous best-selling holiday albums; and original material from BRIAN SETZER. View the Christmas sizzle reel:

2017 is a big year for THE BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA who will celebrate their 25th anniversary in style with an exclusive landmark show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on August 2. Under the stars at the legendary venue where they’ve performed on four previous occasions, SETZER’s trademark guitar work and vocal stylings will be matched with his 19-piece orchestra‘s rockin’ big-band horn arrangements, making for a reliably unbeatable combination. View the anniversary sizzle reel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwOo9mU2dqE

BRIAN SETZER belongs to an elite group of artists who’ve had four super successful phases of his career, from the Stray Cats, to solo albums, The Rockabilly Riot to BSO. The BSO show seamlessly encompasses music from all these phases. “The music I play in the big band is rock n’ roll with a jazz influence,” says SETZER. “What keeps it fresh is the quality of the players in the band. Also a big part of keeping the big band fresh is the arrangements; writing the arrangement for 18-19 people is like writing a song within a song. It makes the song you might have heard many times sound new again.”

For the past two years, THE BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA has had a strong presence on SiriusXM during the holidays. The band performed exclusive invitation-only concerts for SiriusXM listeners in New York City in 2015 and 2016, which aired on SiriusXM‘s Outlaw Country and Holly channels. Details of this year’s special SiriusXM concert will be announced this fall. Catch BSO’s 14th Annual “Christmas Rocks! Tour” in the following cities:

ABOUT BRIAN SETZER: Iconic guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and 3-time Grammy-award-winner BRIAN SETZER is a “Musician’s Musician” credited with continually taking chances with innovative and daring musical styles. Setzer is widely credited for taking two forgotten genres, rockabilly and swing, adding his own blend of gunpowder and rockin style, and completely reinventing and single-handedly resurrecting them in the process. Along the way, he has scored chart-topping hits, sold 13 million records and received the Orville H. Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award throughout his decorated career as founder/leader of the Stray Cats, his 19-piece Brian Setzer Orchestra, and as a solo artist. He is consistently cited as one of the world’s greatest living guitarists, and has a best-selling, extensive line of elite Gretsch signature model guitars bearing his name. BRIAN appeared in the 1987 film, La Bamba, portraying rockabilly pioneer Eddie Cochran. In 2002, BRIAN earned the privilege of being one of the few musicians to be animated in an episode of “The Simpsons.” That same year, SETZER was personally requested to induct Chet Atkins into the 17th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. SETZER had the honor of being invited in 2006 to perform at the White House for the President of the United States. In 2014, SETZER received the distinct honor of being asked by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. to donate a replica of his original 1959 Gretsch 6120 “Stray Cat” guitar, joining an elite collection of iconic treasures at the museum.

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PiercingMetal Thoughts: I’ve been fortunate enough to catch this performance twice already when its hit my area and as a big fan of not only Christmas music, but the way that Setzer and company deliver it – Well, it’s a winning combination for sure. If you also enjoy the melodies that put you in the holiday spirit than I cannot suggest this tour enough to you. Thanks to this event, I now get two awesome holiday experiences with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra being the other. That’s all I have on this matter, what do you readers think about it? Have you caught it already yourself and can convince others to join in? If so please feel free to add some thoughts down in the comments section below. Until next time.

The BSO doesn’t disappoint. The show lasts around 1 1/2 hours. Brian plays Christmas music mixed in with his rockabilly stuff. His orchestra is as entertaining as he is. I highly recommend seeing this show.